[Scotty]

This is the first time in 15 years where I couldn't get my leaves done. Rain, snow and DST kept messing up my plans. I've got a 1/2 acre lot, so not overly interested in raking that many wet, rotted leaves out to the ditch.

Has anyone left them until the spring?
I don't want to kill the lawn. I brought home a walk-behind blower, and if that doesn't do it, I'm thinking of leaving them down (pun intended). Of course yesterday was sunny and dried things up a bit, but I woke up to rain again.

 

[Diablo]

Oh sure, no adverse effects. Sometimes some will blow away, or blow into piles along buildings, fences etc, but usually they just get soggy and heavier when you do it in the spring. No harm no foul.
Because of our weather, I find I usually only get 80-90% of them in the fall. Yesterday was our last yard waste collection day, and there's still some leaves in the trees.
Technically leaves are like mulch, they protect trees, breakdown into nutrients etc.

 

[capnjim]

I stopped raking in the fall years ago. I actually like it in the spring when its that first nice warm day, I go and rake the leaves.

I also dump them in the same pile every year. They rot really really fast. The pile is on a few inches above the level of the ground. I hate it when people put out 100 plastic bags full of leaves. It should be a law that if you are a homeowner, you need to find a corner somewhere to compost your leaves.
Plus, as a bonus, free worms for fishing.

 

[SWLABR]

I haven't raked (my lawn) for years. I mulch most of them, and expect some to blow away. The only time I pull out the rake is to get them off my driveway. Because of how the houses are staggered (out here in the country) I get a cyclone effect from the neighbors, and end up with huge piles of leaves in front of my garage. Anything still hanging around come Spring, I mulch them too.

@capnjim, totally agree with the plastic bags. If I put out even one bag with leaves, the Township wouldn't touch it. And nor should they!

 

[vokey design]

Mulch them up with your lawn mover.

 

[Guitar101]

I mulch mine with my riding lawnmower but this year most of them have blown away. Not sure where you are in Ontario but it going up to 10C this week with no rain so maybe it's not too late.

 

[Mooh]

I don't rake at all anymore. When we used to, it was only to pick up the wind blown piles to create more compost with them because we had so many trees. Post tornado we have fewer trees. Leaves help protect the lawn and garden over winter, and then when mulched with the mower in the spring they vanish into natural nourishing compost.

The whole idea of raking came from a conspiracy by the capitalist consortium of rake manufacturers who planted the idea that leaves looked bad, all in order to sell more rakes. Fight the power.

 

[vadsy]

I let my roomba deal with them, fall or spring,.. leave it outside one afternoon and it'll take care of the leaves, dog poo and squirrels

 

[Guest]

I let my roomba deal with them, fall or spring,.. leave it outside one afternoon and it'll take care of the leaves, dog poo and squirrels

Fake mulch.

 

[mhammer]

I forget where I heard or read it, but it was my understanding that the wisdom of leaving things lie there until spring would depend somewhat on the particular type of tree the leaves come from. Maple leaves purportedly yield a mulch that can be too acidic for some turf and greenery underneath, although sites like this one tend to discuss maple wood chips, rather than leaves, as being the source of potential problems. Problems Using Maple Tree Chips & Mulch

 

[Guest]

Mulch them up with your lawn mover.

I do this as well if it's not too much.
When it is, we rake it into the garden to turn over in the spring prior to planting.

 

[Scotty]

Mulch them up with your lawn mover.

I tried this in one section once. It was too much for the lawn and killed that area.

 

[Scotty]

OK, I borrowed a walk behind industrial blower from another contractor. ( type you see the guys cleaning up race tracks with ) Kind of a bitch to operate without turf tires, but this thing picked up every leaf no matter how wet and buried into the grass.

I have to blow them into the ditch and then pick them up and take them to the dump. As much space as I have, I don't really have room for a compost pile. That's boat and camper parking space.

The first year I bagged them. Roughly 60 bags. Never again will I bag them.

Sometimes if they're light and fluffy, I take them for a drive after dark

 

[vokey design]

I tried this in one section once. It was too much for the lawn and killed that area.

Strange, as you can see from this side of my back yard we have a few leaves to deal with ... and yes two of my kids are tabogganing in summer
I have had great success mulching leaves. I go over them several times so the pieces are small enough to fall down between the blades of grass.

 

[jb welder]

There are vast areas of park lawns that never get raked, they don't suffer for it. No worries.
I'm not sure how they deal with it on golf courses.

 

[nnieman]

Why Raking Your Leaves is Counterproductive

I read this article and it gave a good argument for not taking them at all.

Works for me (I didn’t need much convincing)

Nathan

 

[Steadfastly]

I purchased a leaf blower as we have a lot of leaves on our property but my wife likes to rake so I haven't used it in two years. All I do is pull the tarp full of leaves down to the woods and dump it. Have I mentioned before what a great wife I have?

 

[Scotty]

I use the leaf blower spring summer and fall. I walk the roof to blow out the leaves and maple keys and use it to clean the driveway, walks and sometimes let it rip to get the residual sawdust out of the garage

 

[JazzyT]

I use the leaf blower spring summer and fall. I walk the roof to blow out the leaves and maple keys and use it to clean the driveway, walks and sometimes let it rip to get the residual sawdust out of the garage

Just don't do it at 7:00 on a weekend morning. I could kill my next door neighbour

 

[Scotty]

Just don't do it at 7:00 on a weekend morning. I could kill my next door neighbour

I have one of those too. I'm usually the last guy out working on the weekend. Guitar takes priority to yardwork 1st